The Blackboard
(April 2004)

 “Body Weight Magic”
By Ron Jones, MS

 
Renegades modeling partner inverted push-ups

I was given a great opportunity a few weeks ago to put my theory to practice on “body weight” being the best and most effective free weight for strength conditioning. Countless times I’ve seen people lifting “iron” to build strength on top of horrible body imbalances and compensations. The theory is that first you must master lifting your own body weight in multiple positions THEN you can add heavier lifting if desired. I’m over generalizing a bit, but really, there is almost a magic about simple body weight exercise.  Two months ago the BC Football team hired me to be a fitness coach for pre-season football.  Why?  Because last year the players had too many back problems and joint mobility issues.  Scenario: 60 guys, one hour max per day on a grass field, and no equipment.  No problemo.  This was the perfect set up for me to implement some new body weight exercises plus some old school stuff like push ups.

I had to give some justifications the first few days about why we were only using body weight.  The looks ranged from disbelief to disgust. L Making comments like, “your body is the best free weight and you need to master body weight before worrying about heavy lifting in the weight room” does NOT go over well with a bunch of eager college football players.  However, within a VERY short amount of time they learned the truth—body weight exercise does not have to be a senior citizen program done to polka music!  Within a few minutes they were toasted. The football team again proved true what I had seen in the past—big strong guys that could bench press and squat hundreds of pounds that could not even do one proper push up.  How can this be you ask?  Weak cores were the culprit.  Note that ALL human movement starts in the core (or trunk). When your core is weak, you cannot brace and stabilize your spine properly or then move efficiently.  Push ups, while thought of as “arms and chest” exercises, are very core related.  Sagging butts or butts up high like periscopes are sure signs of a weak cores--there were quite a few misplaced butts that first few weeks and consequently very weak cores. 

With the core in mind, I prioritized the center then worked out.  The results have been amazing!  Many players have told me they are more fit now than ever before in their lives and attribute most of this improvement to the body-weight exercise program.  Along with our core emphasis, we also worked on restoring functional joint mobility from years and years of injuries, compensations, and lack of mobility work.  Even I have been amazed at how much progress has been made with nothing more than body weight exercise.  When the guys were ready for high-intensity I brought it on. It doesn't matter how strong you are in the weight room--vicious intensity with body weight and balance challenge is another world "if" you can handle the intensity after proper progressions. They are doing explosive movements with their bodies they never thought possible--and with good control and quality.  Theory applied with practical results for performance enhancement is exciting. The football program has been the best of both worlds for me--dedicated athletes wanting to improve with the freedom to go as hard as we can safely progress. Put me in a high-intensity high-performance environment and I'm happy! J

I have been collecting body weight exercises for years now.  I like exercising with body weight because it is very effective and CHEAP!  You don’t need fancy equipment or a gym membership to do push ups and leg lunges.  There are literally hundreds of interesting variations of body weight exercises.  I probably use a couple dozen different push ups, multiple leg squats and lunges forwards, backwards, sideways, or with rotations.  Push ups can be done with standard military hand positions, narrow or wide hands, split position diagonal hands, on top of someone’s body by placing a hand on the hip and the other hand on the shoulder—the possibilities are endless!  More importantly, the effectiveness of good ol’ body weight exercise cannot be matched. 

I’ve created a new website section just for body weight exercises if you’d like to check them out.  I’m putting up photos and simple instructions (still in progress). The exercises range from easy to extremely hard.  You can access my new web section at: www.ronjones.org/Coach&Train/index.html.  I’m promoting body weight exercise as a way to get more people moving at home or at the park.  Believe me it works and works well—BC football and others have proven this fact.  If you’re reading this you have a body—are you using it to exercise?  If not, why not?  Body weight exercises can be great for seniors to footballs players and highly functional for improving human movement.  If you aren’t using your body for strength conditioning—START!  No excuses.  Just move.

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